The stage at Jolene’s, the Dolly Parton–themed honky-tonk on East Fourth Street, is somewhat unconventional. A balcony that puts the band high above the bar and crowd, it’s close enough to the ceiling that Joel Huffman, the singer-guitarist whose bands Huffman Acoustic and The H+Co. Project play the place regularly, has had to make a few adjustments to get the sound just right.
But on a recent Sunday night at the venue, H+Co. had it dialed in, and their covers of songs by Sublime and Tom Petty and, of course, Dolly Parton, sounded sharp. Their rendition of Parton’s classic ballad “Jolene” leaned more in the direction of the White Stripes’ rocking version of the tune than Parton’s more traditional country approach and went over well with the crowd.
“The acoustics are a little different,” admits Huffman via phone from his North Kingsville home. “Early on, we were running a pretty bare-bones setup—two 15-inch speakers and feedback from friends out front. We’ve since invested in a full digital system with iPads, so even without a sound guy, we can soundcheck ahead of time and make sure everything is right before the show.”
Huffman and his wife Kayla started playing regionally two years ago when a friend from work said he was thinking of opening a restaurant, and Huffman joked that he would play there if he did. The guy opened the place, and as a result, Huffman played the soft opening solo, then returned with Kayla for the official grand opening. Once Kayla joined him onstage, the response was overwhelmingly positive, marking the beginning of Huffman Acoustic.
“The restaurant is called Beebe’s Bistro in downtown Jefferson, Ohio,” says Huffman. “It’s owned by Tim and Amy Beebe. Tim is a maintenance planner at the chemical plant where I work. At the grand opening, a few other local business owners were there, and we got a few gigs out of that.”
While Huffman and his wife primarily perform as the duo Huffman Acoustic, the idea for a full band emerged after their 2024 Fourth of July Celebration performance at Geneva-on-the-Lake. The couple felt the event called for a bigger sound, leading them to propose, and ultimately deliver, a full-band performance for this year’s celebration.
“We put the group together for the concert and played on a flatbed truck we borrowed from our friend,” he says. “That’s what we originally formed for. Our bassist, Paul Smith, is an inspector with me at work, and our drummer, Tommy Hagerman occasionally plays with several other bands in our area. Tommy’s a great drummer who can drum anything while Paul can shred anything with strings.”
The Huffmans’ musical connection goes back decades. They initially played talent shows in high school.
“In high school, I was the guy who bought all the yard sale equipment with a buddy,” says Huffman. “We had speakers and mixers that were old school. Ten out of 15 channels didn’t work, but we had just enough to put a sound system together. We were pushing the teachers to let us do a talent show.”
Kayla comes from a family of gospel singers.
“They were called Second Generation,” says Huffman. “Her mom’s side were a family of Southern Gospel singers who had the bus and would travel from Birmingham, AL as far north as Cleveland. Starting a very young age, she grew up singing in front of church crowds. I remember, it was our junior or senior year that I sang Nirvana in one of the talent shows, and she sang ‘Me & Bobby McGee’ from Janis Joplin. She’s always been a fantastic vocalist.”
After high school, Joel joined the Coast Guard, and Kayla went off to Troy University.
“We started talking again on MySpace,” says Huffman. “I had planned to stay in Alaska and join the State Troopers. I loved it up there. But I told her I loved her, so instead of a discharge request, I would put in for Coast Guard Station Dauphin Island, Alabama.”
Huffman transferred to the Alabama gulf coast in 2009, and the two married in 2010. After several cross-country moves together, Huffman separated from the USCG in 2016 and they eventually relocated to Ashtabula County in 2019.
“We love it here,” says Huffman. “I had never heard of Ashtabula. I had no idea where it was. The company that hired me offered a relocation package as part of the deal. Most inspectors with certifications like mine are on the Gulf Coast near the oil refineries. Many of them are Southern-bred and terrified of snow. But we love the seasons near Lake Erie and have met so many great people up here. We find it easy to connect here as it feels like home. It turned out to be an awesome move for our family. I had no idea there is such a good music scene here either!”
The H+Co. Project played their first gig at Jolene’s in June 2025, right after it opened.
“I think they opened on a Friday, and we played there on a Monday night,” he says. “We had only practiced twice for the Fourth of July but the band dynamic was strong from the very beginning. It was somewhat of a fake-it-until-you-make-it thing. We went and made it happen and had a blast. Paul and Tommy on bass and drums are just phenomenal musicians which made it easy from the start.”
Huffman says the band’s sound is more polished now and the catalog of tunes it can play has expanded.
“We have about 100 songs that we do proficiently,” he says. “We’ve gotten to the point where we have a well-received setlist at our shows. When Kayla and I play wineries, we have a ‘choose your own adventure’ set list. She can tell if the audience would prefer Johnny Cash or Luke Combs.”
The group is working on original material too.
“One song we are about to put out there is called ‘George Strait or God,’” says Huffman. “We’ve recently booked Fox 8. We will do The Morning Show on Jan. 16. I will try to get that single recorded prior to that.”
Coming up, the group performs on Saturday at Jolene’s and will play the club again on Friday, Jan. 2.
“Jolene’s has been incredibly supportive of us and trusts us in key moments,” says Huffman. “We’re a steady, reliable presence for them. We’ll be there during major nights next year like the Zach Bryan concert weekend when he’s in town in May, and we also maintain strong relationships with wineries we enjoy playing. We take those commitments seriously and don’t like to leave people hanging as they pushed us to get where we are now. At the same time, we’re beginning to step into some higher-profile, larger-scale events.”
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